corrugated plastic culvert pipe for well??

[smiley]

Does anyone have any information on using the black polyethylene culvert pipe for drinking water wells? I can find no information on the net.
I also have green PVC sewer pipe that the manufacturer say is the same as the water pipes except for the color, but is not certified for that use because of the huge expense of certification. The black polyethylene culvert pipe seems to be the same as the common poly waterline available at Lowes etc.

 

[aczlan]

I know someone who used it for a shallow well to replace a rusted out piece of galvanized culvert. No idea on the certifications though.

Aaron Z

 

[Rustyiron]

I "pictured" you meaning a shallow, dug well, and using the palstic inplace of traditional concrete well "rings" that you would stack. If that is what you mean, I don't see any problems using it, I believe that they do offer water tight end caps as well (for your lid). I did see a article on the web using a plastic pipe about the size of regular well casing or larger with holes or slots in the bottom for a shallow well. I think that the ADS style culvert pipe with the smooth inner layer would make an excellent well & require a much smaller machine to lower in into the hole.

 

[PILOON]

I would personally not hesitate to use it.
At worst in order to satisfy any concerns you could always toss some clorox or javex to kill off any germs that would concern you, in fact that would be recommended for any well work as well as periodically advisable.
Also whenever a city does any water main work they also disinfect using a chlorine solution of sorts as well as to advise boiling for a period until tests are completed.
I'd suggest leaving a short section above ground so that contaminants cannot enter as well as sealing the surrounding area in concrete so that surface water can not seep in around the edges. Around here even the deepest wells must have a concrete bib (about a yard or two) to prevent surface seepage.
For sure an inert plastic liner is far superior to porous concrete that has layed around a yard for how long.

 

[smiley]

I "pictured" you meaning a shallow, dug well, and using the plastic in place of traditional concrete well "rings" that you would stack. If that is what you mean, I don't see any problems using it.

That is correct, we only need to go down 8-10 ft. I've dug a couple test wells already and one appears to have about 1.5-2 gal per minute recovery. The other in a better location has only 1/10 gpm. My concern is the hulabaloo by the ecko wacko's that all plastic food/water containers are going to kill you. I already have a 3 x 14 ft green PVC sewer pipe but it is not certified for potable water. I talked with a manufacturer and they said the resins used are exactly the same, only the colorant is different, but the certification process is extremely expensive so they did it only with the white and blue plastics. The problem is that it weighs over 2 1/2 tons and although my loader will lift it, (barely) the better well site is soft and I'll get buried. The backhoe end will barely move it. The same problem exists with concrete rings at around 5000# each. The black hdpe plastics seem to be the best choice as they are commonly used and certified for potable water BUT, the culverts are not certified. Probably made from the same material but no one will state that for liability reasons.
I did find one good paper on this for anyone interested --- http://www.pprc.org/research/rapidresDocs/PPRC_HDPE_Water_Pipe_Safety_FINAL.pdf ---- . One thing they do mention is that the prime objection seems to be possible odor and taste issues but if marked with a recycling code, here are their conclusions;
"Conclusions
By and large, HDPE is reported to be one of the å*µood plastics, safe for use with food and water. A common plastics memory aid can be found in various sources:
One, four, five and two,
all of these are good for you.
referring to the recycle code numbers found on plastic containers, where 1 is PET, 2 is high density
polyethylene (HDPE), 4 is low density polyethylene (LDPE) and 5 is polypropylene (PP). PPRC found no evidence of any widespread health problems related to the use of HDPE in food and beverage or potable
water applications.
Any further info or thoughts will be appreciated.
And for Piloon ------ Bacterial contamination probably not a worry and it's in an open unpolluted area and we do have UV filter if necessary. This new well is basicaly just a supplemental well as it will be gravity feed for power outages. Are you still snowed in up there? we were up about a month ago and still plenty in the woods and shaded areas.

 

[aczlan]

I would wash the HDPE culvert with dish soap (to remove the mold release agent) and then use it.

Aaron Z

 

[Rustyiron]

It might be expensive, but if you could get a "coupling" for that big sewer pipe, it might be worth it in installation effort and cheaper than buying a culvert pipe. Another thought is that if you have a complete section with a "bell" or gasketed end, you could cut it in half, then reverse the side with (male) tapered end, setting the (female) gasketed end on to it reducing the weight that you'll be lifting in half. Get yourself a can of the "lube" that is used for sure! You suprised me with the weight of it, must be pressure rated?

 

[PILOON]

Any further info or thoughts will be appreciated.
And for Piloon ------ Bacterial contamination probably not a worry and it's in an open unpolluted area and we do have UV filter if necessary. This new well is basicaly just a supplemental well as it will be gravity feed for power outages. Are you still snowed in up there? we were up about a month ago and still plenty in the woods and shaded areas.

Hi Smily, just couple of patches here and there.
Brave grand daughter actually went for a swim last w/e. Was a FAST dip! (ice is just 2 weeks out), not for me.
Bid on a McComick yesterday, a crazy deal that just might gell. We got a HD chipper barn stored like new for $500. and a log splitter for $100. Picking up tomorrow AM. You met the 2 characters that are involved with me in this deal.
With all the winter damage this year the chipper will be working OT. We plan to lease it out to local contractors (we know them all) for about $100/day. The deal was real fast so I'm not sure of the brand but believe it is a Deere that wants 30-40 PRO hp and handles about 5" trees. The seller guy was mandated to clean up a 100 acre estate to make it 'show ready'. Kinda a 'no reasonable offer refused' deal.
They are selling the estate with starting bid of $1 million. Has 2 fabulous houses, one lake barns etc etc. All top notch construction.
Cool fun stuff.
Tomorrow AM the 3 of us, 3/4 ton PU and 20ft flatbed will 'clean up'.
Hi to your wife.
Bob

PS, I'd still pour a concrete 'bib' just to prevent contaminants from seeping in around the well pipe.

Idea: get a plastic barrel, cut a hole in bottom same size as your selected pipe bury bbl leaving maybe 6" above ground and use the bbl lid as your cap.
Seal bottom of bbl to the well pipe with a bag of premix concrete. This way you'd not even need to cap well down pipe and in all probability the air space provided by the bbl would prevent freezing as well.
Regards

 

[rScotty]

Google "HDPE and Chlorine", you'll find a lot of info applicable to shallow wells. I wonder if maybe you are being concerned about the wrong end of this project.

Well rings have to be a certain strength to withstand ground and water pressure. That's the reason concrete rings are used in shallow wells and why HDPE risers are limited to two feet. Go much deeper than that and plastic barrels or large diameter thin wall pipe will start to collapse.

Might be easier to just fix the swampy access. With all these new HDPE geotextiles a guy with a pickup truck and a hoe can permanently change a swampy access into something you can drive over without sinking. Affordable for small areas. It's still a swamp; but you just can't get stuck in it. I like the kind of geotextile that looks like connected plastic honeycomb with a geofilter base. It comes in rolls. Lay it down and backfill with whatever is used locally. Do that and then you can drive right in to do a shallow well using basic concrete rings. Makes a really useful well with decent reserve capacity plus much higher gpm.

Don't know what type loader your swampy ground has to support, but a 30" diam. concrete well ring with 6" thick walls only weighs 250 lbs/foot. Two foot (500# ea.) sections are typical. They interlock. A well ten feet deep set down on filter fabric and surrounded by a couple of feet of of gravel makes for a nice well. Biggest decision then is simply what kind of lid you want - double wall plastic or concrete.
good luck, rScotty

 

[PILOON]

If you want to beef up the access with geotextile fabric but wish to control the budget try obtaining removed carpeting to replace geotextile.
Most if not all carpeting nowdays is made from synthetic materials that would provide same characteristics as geotextile and probably be free for the taking.
A carpet contractor that does hotel/motel upgrades would possibly even pay U to tale the stuff away.